Bulldogs power past St. Mary's, into state semifinals

NORTH BEND -- Midway through the third quarter of Thursday afternoon's Class 3A girls basketball state quarterfinal game at North Bend High School, Willamina coach Tom Anderson called a timeout.

The No. 4 Bulldogs were trailing 28-18 against No. 5 St. Mary's of Medford, having just allowed two three-pointers that extended the Crusaders' lead. Anderson reminded his team of what got them to the Class 3A state tournament -- its defense.

"From that timeout on, our defense kind of picked up," Anderson said. "We were getting tips, they were having a hard time getting a good look at the basket."

Willamina tied the game at 33 to force overtime, then went 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the overtime period to take down St. Mary's, 43-38, and advance to the Class 3A state semifinals on Friday.

Kasey Anderson led the Bulldogs (25-2) with 13 points, and Whitney Anderson added 10 points and seven rebounds. Anderson, the Class 3A West Valley League Player of the Year, was named Player of the Game along with Rose Alvarez of the Crusaders (19-4).

The Bulldogs face No. 1 Vale today at 1:30 p.m. at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. The Vikings (23-1) defeated Corbett, 42-26, on Thursday afternoon

Portland Adventist 46, Amity 45

COOS BAY -- Trent Torkelson made a basket and was fouled with 3.3 seconds to play, and Torkelson converted the free throw to send Amity to the consolation round and Portland Adventist to the semifinals at the Class 3A boys basketball state tournament.

The No. 6 Warriors (24-5) did well to survive a 13-3 first quarter. The No. 3 Cougars led by as many as 11 points as Amity made four of its 24 attempted field goals (16.7 percent).

"We could not buy a bucket in the first quarter," Warriors coach Justin Amaya said. "It was a weird first half. We missed every shot."

The smallest Warrior gave Amity the biggest spark in the second half. Five-foot-5 freshman guard Devin McShane came off the bench to lead the Warriors with 13 points (3-of-4 from three-point range). McShane earned Player of the Game honors, along with Ryan Halversen of Portland Adventist (23-4).

Amity held the Cougars scoreless over the first four minutes of the game and outscored PAA 12-4 in the fourth quarter.